Ice water pump

ABSTRACT

A water pump for pumping ice water is provided. The pump includes a motor assembly, a cover, and a tube. The motor assembly includes water pumping blades rotatably set at one end of the motor assembly. The motor assembly includes a water-resistant housing that is set outside and partially encloses the motor assembly. The cover is attached to an end of the water-resistant housing to enclose the motor assembly. The tube extends through the cover to communicate between inside and outside of the cover. Thus, when the pump is positioned in a tank containing ice water, air is allowed to freely flow through the tube between inside and outside of the cover to balance pressures between inside and outside of the pump so as to prevent cracking caused by thermal expansion and contraction from occurring in connection portions of the pump.

(a) TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a pump, and more particularly to a pump that has a construction capable of preventing cracking caused by thermal expansion and contraction from occurring in outer enclosure so as to be fit for pumping ice water or low temperature water.

(b) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

A submerged pump is set under water and is thus provided with excellent water tightness. The submerged pump is often constructed to enclose a motor with a water resistant housing. To simplify the manufacturing, the housing is often composed of two separate parts. In the manufacturing and assembling, the motor is first fit into one of the parts and then other part of the housing is fit to an opposite end of the motor to completely enclose the motor, so that water can be completely prevented from entering the motor and thus realizing water tightness.

When the submerged pump is put in a container (such as an ice water tank) that contains ice water or low temperature liquid for pumping water to an other container, the connection or joint of the housing of the motor is easily subjected to cracking caused by thermal expansion and contraction, leading to undesired penetration of water into the motor to damage the components of the pump and thus damaging and shortening the lifespan of the submerged pump.

The conventional underwater pumps or submerged pumps are not suitable for pumping ice water or low temperature liquids. Thus, the present invention aims to provide an ice water pump that overcomes the above discussed drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide an ice water pump that is suitable for pumping ice water or low temperature liquids. In structure, the ice water pump of the present invention comprises a motor assembly that comprises water pumping blades rotatably set at an end of the motor assembly. The motor assembly comprises a water-resistant housing arranged outside and partially enclosing the motor assembly. A cover is coupled to an end of the water-resistant housing to completely enclose the motor assembly with the water-resistant housing. A tube extends through the cover to communicate between inside and outside of the cover. When the pump is set inside an ice water tank that contains therein ice water, air is allowed to freely flow through the tube between inside and outside of the cover to balance pressures between inside and outside of the pump so as to prevent cracking caused by thermal expansion and contraction from occurring in connection portions of the pump and thus prevent the ice water from entering the motor assembly to protect the motor assembly from damage by the ice water.

The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an ice water pump constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the ice water pump of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the ice water pump of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an application of the ice water pump of the present invention that is installed inside an ice water tank.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a different arrangement of a water pumping tube of the ice water pump of the present invention installed inside an ice water tank.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing use of the ice water pump of the present invention in pumping water.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing use of the ice water pump of the present invention in a non-water-pumping condition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, an ice water pump constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a motor assembly 10, a cover 20, a tube 30, a case 40, and a water intake cap 50. These constituent components/devices will be described in details in the following.

The motor assembly 10 has a construction made up of essential parts of a regular motor and these known components and structure of the motor assembly 10 will not be further described herein for simplifying the description of the present invention. The motor assembly 10 comprises a water-resistant housing 11 that is fixed outside and partially encloses the motor assembly 10. The motor assembly 10 has an end through which pumping blades 12 extend through the water-resistant housing 11 and are rotatably set outside the water-resistant housing 11.

The cover 20 is constructed to directly fit over an end of the water-resistant housing 11 to enclose the motor assembly 10 in a water tight manner so as to form therebetween an internal chamber 21. The cover 20 can be coupled to and fixed by the case 40, or alternatively, the cover 20 is fixed to the water-resistant housing 11 by application of water-resistant adhesive therebetween. The cover 20 comprises a sealing block 22 made of resilient rubber materials and fit into an opening defined through an end face of the cover 20. Electrical wires 23 have ends extending in a water tight manner through the sealing block 22 to electrically connect contacts 13 of the motor assembly 10, whereby the motor assembly 10 is electrically connectable to an external power source. With sealing realized through the sealing block 22, when the present invention is deposited in ice water, the water outside the cover 20 does not penetrate around the electrical wires 23 into the inside of the motor assembly 10 and thus water-tightness is realized.

Similar to the electrical wires 23, the tube 30 extends in a water tight manner through the sealing block 22. Alternatively, the tube 30 can individually extend through an additional seal (not shown in the drawings) mounted to the cover 20. Both arrangements allow the tube 30 to communicate between the internal chamber 21 and the outside environment. The location where the tube 30 extends through the sealing block 22 is made water tight due to the water sealing effect provided by the material of the sealing block 22.

The case 40 is coupled to an opening rim of the cover 20 in a water tight manner, preferably by application of water-resistant adhesives. The case 40 encloses the water-resistant housing 11 and the blades 12. Preferably, the case 40 and the cover 20 together form a continuous outside surface to enhance outside aesthetics of the motor assembly 10. The case 40 and the water-resistant housing 11 define a water pumping compartment 41 therebetween. The case 40 defines a water inlet hole 42 corresponding to the blades 12 and also forms a water discharge section 43 that forms a water passage in communication with the water pumping compartment 41 on a circumferential wall thereof, preferably at an upper side of the case 40. The water discharge section 43 is connectable to a water pumping tube, whereby the blades 12 draw water outside the water pumping compartment 41 into the water pumping compartment 41 through the water inlet hole 42 and the water so drawn in is acted upon by a centrifugal force to discharge through the water discharge section 43 so as to realize water pumping. The circumferential wall of the case 40 forms two retention rings 44 opposite to each other.

The water intake cap 50 has an end forming two barbed retention tabs 51 respectively corresponding to the retention rings 44. The retention tabs 51 are resilient to allow the barbed sections of the retention tabs 51 to be forced through and engage the retention rings 44 thereby securing the water intake cap 50 to the case 40. The water intake cap 50 forms a plurality of fixing holes 52 and openings 53. The fixing holes 52 function to receive fasteners therethrough to secure the present invention to a predetermined location, such as a location inside an ice water tank, whereby the water intake cap 50 functions to block debris entraining ice water from entering the water pumping compartment 41 at a location upstream the water inlet hole 42 and water is allowed to flow through the openings 53 to enter the water inlet hole 42 so as to provide protection to the pump.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 7, an application where the present invention is installed in an ice water tank, generally designated at 90, is shown. The ice water tank 90 forms an internal receiving space that has a bottom on which an L-shaped support rack 91 is fixed. A plurality of resilient fasteners 92 is put through holes defined in a vertical wall of the support rack 91 and also extends into fixing holes 52 of the water intake cap 50 to secure the pump of the present invention inside the ice water tank 90.

In accordance with the present invention, the sealing block 22 that is mounted to the cover 20 at one end of the pump is fit into a hole defined in a side wall of the ice water tank 90 so as to allow the electrical wires 23 and the tube 30 to project outside the ice water tank 90 with external ends thereof. Due to the sealing nature provided by the material of the sealing block 22, ice water contained inside the ice water tank 90 is prevented from leaking out of the ice water tank 90 around the sealing block 22. The water discharge section 43 of the pump of the present invention is connectable to a water pumping tube 80 by being fit into an inner end of the water pumping tube 80. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, an outer end of the water pumping tube 80 is fit through a passage defined in a rim of a tank cover 93 of the ice water tank 90 to further connect to a bag or an additional container.

Referring to FIG. 5, an embodiment shown a different arrangement of the water pumping tube 80 is given, in which the outer end of the water pumping tube 80 does not extend through the passage defined in the rim of the tank cover 93 of the ice water tank 90 and is instead set directly through a hole defined in the side wall of the ice water tank 90 to extend outside the ice water tank 90 for connection with a bag or an additional container.

Referring to FIG. 6, use of the present invention in pumping ice water is illustrated. Ice water, which comprises ice blocks mixed in water, is deposited in the ice water tank 90. The pump of the present invention that is located inside the ice water tank 90 is activated and the blades 12 are rotated, whereby the blades 12 draws water outside the water pumping compartment 41 through the openings 53 and the blade 12 into the water pumping compartment 41 and imposes a centrifugal force to the water drawn into the water pumping compartment 41 so that the water is guided into and discharged through the water discharge section 43 into the water pumping tube 80. Thus, pumping of the ice water is realized. When the pump of the present invention is put into operation for pumping water, due to the operation of the motor assembly 10, a high temperature is induced inside the internal chamber 21 (namely the space defined inside the cover 20). On the other hand, the ice blocks and the low temperature water contained in the ice water tank 90 apply a low temperature to the cover 20 and the case 40, whereby the high temperature induced inside the internal chamber 21 is compensated for by the low temperature outside and surrounding the cover 20. Thus, the connection between the cover 20 and the case 40 is not subjected to severe thermal expansion or contraction, which leads to cracking, so that the ice water contained in the ice water tank 90 does not penetrate into the interior of the motor assembly 10 and the components/parts are protected from damage caused by humidity, which effectively extend the lifespan of the pump.

Referring to FIG. 7, a normal, non-water-pumping condition of the pump of the present invention in the use thereof is shown. In this situation, ice blocks and water contained inside the ice water tank 90 cover and apply a low temperature to the cover 20 and the case 40, which may induce a contraction stress in the cover 20 (arrows with hollow heads outside the wall of the cover 20 indicating the contraction stress that might be induced). With the tube 30 provided to communicate the environment outside the ice water tank 90, air outside the ice water tank 90 is allowed to freely flow into and out of the internal chamber 21 and may induce an outward pressure inside the internal chamber 21, namely the inside space of the cover 20 (arrows with hollow heads inside the wall of the cover 20 indicating the outward pressure). In this way, inside and outside pressures of the pump can compensate for each other and the connection between the cover 20 and the case 40 is protected from cracking caused by contraction induced by the low temperature, so that ice water is prevented from leaking into the motor assembly 10 and the motor assembly 10 is protected against damages caused by humidity.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 

1. An ice water pump, comprising: a motor assembly, which has an end at which water pumping blades are rotatably mounted, the motor assembly comprising a water-resistant housing arranged outside and partially enclosing the motor assembly; a cover, which is coupled to an end of the water-resistant housing to enclose the motor assembly with the water-resistant housing; and a tube, which extends through the cover and communicates between inside and outside the cover; wherein when the ice water pump is arranged inside an ice water tank that contains therein ice water, the tube allows air to freely flow between inside and outside the cover to balance pressures inside and outside the pump so as to prevent cracking caused by thermal expansion and contraction from occurring in connection portions of the pump to thus prevent leaking of the ice water into the motor assembly for protection of the motor assembly from damages caused by humidity.
 2. The ice water pump according to claim 1, wherein the cover is coupled to the water-resistant housing by water-resistant adhesives.
 3. The ice water pump according to claim 1, wherein the cover comprises a sealing block extending therethrough and where the tube extends through the sealing block with water tightness around the tube realized by the sealing block.
 4. The ice water pump according to claim 3, wherein the motor assembly comprises electrical wires having ends extending through the sealing block to project outside the cover.
 5. The ice water pump according to claim 1, wherein the cover has an opening to which a case is coupled by application of water-resistant adhesives and wherein the case encloses the water-resistant housing and the blades, the case and the water-resistant housing defining a water pumping compartment therebetween, the case forming a water inlet hole corresponding to the blades, the case forming a water discharge section in communication with the water pumping compartment, the water discharge section being connectable to a water pumping tube.
 6. The ice water pump according to claim 5, wherein the case has an outer wall forming at least one retention ring, a water intake cap forming a barbed retention tab corresponding to and engageable with the retention ring to secure the water intake cap to the case.
 7. The ice water pump according to claim 6, wherein the water intake cap forms fixing holes that receive fasteners to secure the pump at a predetermined location.
 8. The ice water pump according to claim 6, wherein the water intake cap forms openings for water flow. 